“All things considered, I’m taking this quite well, aren’t I?” Zack asked.

Alex tugged on his hair in thought before nodding his agreement. “I mean, I can’t say I’d be handling it better than you, so that’s saying something. You don’t seem surprised that magic is real.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m, like, made of magic now.”

Alex frowned. “You are?”

“Yup. I’m something called a core, if my stats sheet is to be believed. Not entirely sure what that means or anything, but I’m pretty sure I could figure it out if I wanted to.”

Alex stopped tugging on his hair, his face twisting into a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“My stat sheet? It says I’m an unassigned core?”

“Stat sheet? Dude, this isn’t a video game.”

Now it was Zack’s turn to be confused. “I never said it was.”

“Do you maybe have, like, an internal status tattoo?” Alex offered. He raised his left hand, showing off the poorly drawn triangle on the back. A bar underneath it was present empty, devoid of color and looking like a faint gray line in Alex’s flesh.

Zack turned his focus on the tattoo and studied it. He could feel the mana in the ink, different from the swirl of energy within himself or Alex. It was mana with purpose, given function by someone else. But it was incomplete…

“I don’t have one of those,” Zack said. “Can I get a closer look at that?”

Alex obliged, practically touching the tattoo to Zack’s surface. At a mental nudge, the rabbit pushed Zack forward until he touched Alex’s skin. The moment he did, understanding of the mark flowed into him.

[Makeshift Status Tattoo]

[A tattoo forged with magical ink. Capable of displaying the user’s current mana amount in imprecise values. Incapable of displaying other information.]

As Alex pulled away again, understanding of the tattoo lingered in Zack’s mind. “What back alley did you get that junk job from?” Zack chuckled.

“What? How did you—?” Alex blinked in surprise, but quickly shook it off. “Look, it doesn’t matter.”

“I disagree. The item description says it’s a makeshift tattoo. Why didn’t you splurge on the real thing?”

“Item desc—Zack, what are you talking about?”

“The item description! What, you can’t see that?”

“No. This isn’t a game, Zack! There’s no stat sheets or item descriptions!”

Zack wanted to frown, but without a face he found himself frustratingly incapable of doing so. Instead, he commanded the bunny to stand up on its hind legs, cross its arms and glower in frustration at Alex. The sudden human-like gesture from the rabbit was enough to startle his friend, but he quickly recomposed himself.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t believe that you see those things, it’s just that they don’t exist for me,” Alex explained. “I can’t think of anyone who has ever seen anything like that, come to think of it.”

“Why don’t you give me the run down, then? Let’s put our heads together and figure stuff out?”

“You don’t have a head.”

“Technically I am nothing but a head.”

Alex sighed, rubbing his face as he considered the proposition, before nodding. “Okay. Basics. Let’s start with the basics. First things first: magic is real, and it’s about as chaotic as you’d expect.”

“I gathered as much from, you know, magical explosions.”

“Those don’t really happen anymore. Now that aether is just everywhere, we instead have to deal with something called aetheric manifestations. More often than not, these manifestations are monsters of one kind or another.”

Zack stared blankly at Alex, and only spoke up when it became clear that his friend was waiting for him to speak. “Oh, you’re serious?”

“Yes, Zack, I’m dead serious. Monsters are real, the kind of stuff from mythology and fiction.”

“And they just… pop into existence?”

“Some of them do. Others are just animals mutated by exposure to too much aether. Either way, they’re bad news.”

“Next you’re going to tell me that there are adventurers that go out hunting for monsters to protect the normal people from—” Zack started, only to trail off as he realized that Alex was staring blank-faced at him. “Holy crap, there are, aren’t there?”

Alex’s only answer was a slow nod.

“Are there elves, too?”

“And orcs, goblins, dwarves—we don’t really know what causes people to turn into those various species, but it happened a lot in the year after the Boom. Nowadays it usually only hits during puberty.”

“What about, like, wizards? They real too?”

Alex heaved a sigh. “They don’t use that word, and they think it offensive. They prefer the term aetherologist.”

“That’s pretentious as hell.”

“When you make the rules and run the schools, you get to choose what you call yourself. Everyone else has to get with the program or get out of your way,” Alex shrugged. “That’s probably the biggest change that happened while you were gone: the introduction of magic has revolutionized every major industry. It’s now common for big box retailers like MallMart to carry weapons and healing potions. As early as high school, kids can take magic and adventuring classes if they show any amount of aptitude. You can’t get a legal status tattoo until you turn eighteen, though.”

Again, Zack glanced towards the tattoo on his friend’s hand. “And that one is illegal?”

Alex grimaced and checked his tattoo, only to frown at it in confusion. After a moment’s pause, he turned his attention away from it and back to the rock on his coffee table. “It’s only illegal to administer them without a proper permit, not to have one. And given how expensive it is to get a proper one…”

“Expensive? Why would it be expensive to…” Zack trailed off as understanding crossed his mind. “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

“Yup. Capitalism ruined magic, too,” Alex sighed. “The patents for the various status tattoos are owned by the magical universities. Harvard, Yale, Waterloo. Big names in the game. You want to get a good tattoo, you either shell out the big bucks or you attend their classes. Mine is a variant on the Waterloo design,” he added. “It was supposed to show me my health, stamina, mana, and level. Looks like it’s broken, though. It’s not even showing me my mana, which is kind of weird. Normally I’d be full after sleeping…”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Oh, that might actually be my fault,” Zack chuckled. “Yeah, sorry, I sort of… Snacked on you while you were asleep.”

“You what?”

“Look, I needed mana to make the bunny, and it’s not like you were using it so I—”

Alex looked more confused than upset. His attention shifted from Zack and his tattoo to the rabbit on the table. “You eat mana?”

“I’m not sure eating is the right word? I have the mana inside me, but it’s not like I’m digesting it. I’m not sure how to describe it, really.”

Alex shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “Okay, one thing at a time. Let’s come back to that later.”

“Deal. You were talking about magical capitalism? I’d think magic would be something of a great equalizer, something anyone can learn, right?”

“You’d think that, but it’s not that simple. I mentioned stamina, mana, and health right? Well, those aren’t made up numbers, they’re concrete. Everyone has a base amount, and the only way to increase your values is by leveling up.”

“What happened to this not being a game?”

“Zack.”

“What? You were going on about how this isn’t a game but now you’re talking about levels!”

Alex had a difficult time arguing that one. He pursed his lips, like he was trying to find an appropriate rebuttal. “I don’t fully understand it either. All I know is that the only way to get better at magic is to hunt monsters. There’s something about the way that mana and aether interact with monsters that makes it better at empowering people.”

“So you hunt monsters, which makes you better at hunting monsters. Sounds like a video game to me. Totally normal MMORPG stuff.”

“Zack.”

“Why are you Zacking me? I’m right!” Zack insisted.

“You’re right but you shouldn’t say it.”

“What, is the shadow wizard money gang going to appear and mug me?”

Alex stared blankly and shook his head. “Okay, I think that’s a brief summary of every important change that you missed. Magic is real, capitalism is still a thing, monsters pop up now, and people have to hunt them.”

The pair of them sat silently for a long moment, the bunny’s impatient foot tapping the only sound in the room. Realizing that he left his rabbit trapped in an animation cycle, Zack rescinded the command and allowed it to return to a more normal posture.

“Is it my turn to explain stuff, now?” Zack asked, the silence growing uncomfortably awkward for him.

Alex shrugged. “What could you tell me that I don’t already know?”

Zack considered the question. A little voice at the back of his mind informed him that he could theoretically answer any question Alex had, but maybe not right away. All he had to do was ask the right question, and the answer would appear. He didn’t fully understand why or how it worked that way, all he knew was that it did.

“Maybe that’s something to revisit later,” Zack said. He wanted to further explore his own abilities, but that could wait.

“Do you have any other questions, then?” Alex asked.

“I guess the biggest one is why you’re only level three? If adventuring is a legitimate option for a career, why are you… I don’t know, not one?”

Alex winced at the question. “Look, Zack, it’s… It’s not that easy to become an adventurer, okay? There’s a licensing process, and you need to be part of a company in order to find out about the more rewarding hunts.”

“And you can’t even join a company without the proper training, can you?” Zack asked, as the pieces started to fall into place. “Wow, capitalism really found a way to ruin adventuring. You have to go to college to learn magic and train to become an adventurer, and then you still have to get a license and apply for a job? Whatever happened to just… going out and hunting monsters?”

“Some people do that, but they get arrested for endangering themselves and the public. It’s a bad time all around.”

“So if you’re not an adventurer, what do you do? You’re not still at MallMart, are you?”

Alex turned pale and he looked away. “I was, but I’ve recently had a change in my career path.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I got fired. Turns out getting blasted with magical lightning is grounds for termination.”

Zack remembered that exact scenario, but he thought he’d been dreaming at the time. An angry woman screaming, calling her a bitch, drinking her mana as she cast a spell.

Then he woke up.

“Zack? Buddy?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, was just thinking,” Zack mumbled. “Anyone else smell smoke?”

“Smoke?”

“Nothing, just a bad joke. Sorry you got fired for calling her a bitch.”

“How did you know about that? I didn’t mention that I called her a bitch!”

“Uhhhhh…”

“Oh my God, it was you!” Alex blurted, jumping to his feet off the couch. Before the rabbit could stop him, he snatched Zack off the table. “You called her a bitch, you got me blasted with lightning and fired!”

“In my defense, I thought I was dreaming,” Zack said quickly, his voice partially muffled as Alex’s hand interrupted the vibrations of his crystal form. “Also, I technically absorbed the mana she used to attack you. I saved your life.”

“You’re the only reason it was in danger in the first place!” Alex said, shaking the crystal to drive home the point. “Dammit man, I really needed that job.”

Still clutching Zack, Alex dropped back to the couch and covered his face with his free hand. He took several deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm his nerves.

“Sorry,” Zack mumbled. He meant it, too. Alex was his closest friend. They knew each other growing up, had been in the same classes in community college, and even lived together for a time. Despite being turned into a rock, Zack was grateful to be with someone he knew, someone he trusted.

Alex gently set him down on the table again and stared at him. “It’s fine,” he grunted. “Look, I… It was a shitty, dead-end job that barely paid the bills, but it was all I had. I’ve gone enough savings to keep me afloat for a couple months, but as soon as that’s over, I’m done.”

“So why not just get another job?” Zack asked.

“It’s not that easy. Fiascos like that end up all over the news and social media. There’s not a store in town that’ll hire me—nobody wants to be liable for a powered citizen’s outburst.”

“So you’re out of a job, and shit out of luck?”

Alex chewed his lip but said nothing. Once more, the pair of them sat in an uncomfortable silence, as the reality of the situation sunk in.

Zack didn’t like the idea that he was responsible for his friend’s current predicament. He didn’t fully blame himself—he wasn’t really conscious at the time—but he could very well understand the part he played in making things worse for Alex. He had to do something, had to make it better somehow, right?

But what could he do? He was just a crystal core.

Well, not just a crystal core. I’ve got the power of creation on my side, don’t I? Zack thought. Maybe I could do something with that?

Zack cast his gaze inward, taking stock once more of his mana and other attributes. What could he create?

[Patterns available]

[Basic Animal Creation: level 1]

[Basic Monster Creation: level 1]

[Basic Item Creation: level 1]

The text appeared in the air before him, and he called out excitedly, hoping that Alex could see them too. Without a hand to point, though, he had to make the bunny jump around and wave in its general direction.

“You seriously don’t see that!?” Zack asked.

“No, I seriously don’t. Is it maybe just a you thing? You’re not exactly normal.”

Zack considered it a moment, remembering the message that appeared to him when he first woke up. Akashic System integration…

“Hey Alex, does the term Akashic System mean anything to you?” Zack asked.

“Um… Sort of? Hang on, let me Google that real fast,” Alex said. He jogged back into his room to retrieve his phone and started typing away on it. “Nothing about Akashic System but it says here the Akashic Record is is the combined knowledge and information of everything in the universe. Why?”

“I’m guessing that’s how I can see this information and you can’t. I’m fully integrated into the Akashic System—maybe directly linked to that Akashic Record? It lets me see information like levels and concrete numbers.”

“As cool as that is, how exactly does that help me get a new job?”

“Well, I’ve got a few nifty powers of my own. My own kind of magic, as it were. Didn’t you wonder where the bunny came from?”

“I didn’t really want to think about it too hard, if I’m being honest.”

“Harsh. Look, the point is that I can make stuff. Maybe I can make stuff for you to sell on the internet? Like your own personal 3D printer?”

“Not the worst idea, but not the best, either. Even if you could make TVs or something, eventually people are going to get suspicious when I never run out. That’s not the kind of attention you need when you’ve got illegal magic. And make no mistake, you are illegal magic.”

“Look, I can’t just sit around all day while you’re in danger of ending up on the streets. I can’t live with that on my conscience. Especially since I’m apparently legally dead and have no life to return to. Could we maybe use my savings?”

“We could, if the government didn’t liquidate the assets of everyone that turned into crystals in the Boom.”

“Of course they did,” Zack groaned. “You can’t hunt monsters, you can’t get a retail job, and I’m guessing you never finished college, either?”

Alex shook his head.

“God damn, your life sucks.”

“Thanks, Zack. Very helpful.” With a groan, Alex forced himself back up from the couch and stretched. “Look, it’s nice that you’re back and all, but this conversation isn’t getting us anywhere. You’re a rock, and I’m a human. One of us has to figure out a way to make money, and unless you’ve got an internet connection in that Akashic System thing, I doubt it’ll be you. Feel free to make yourself at home, I guess. I’m gonna go shower and start sending out job applications.”

“Okay, man. Have a good de-stinkify,” Zack quipped.

Alex groaned as he wandered off towards the bathroom, phone in one hand. As he left, Zack turned his attention over to his horned rabbit. Given the amount of mana inside the creature, he had to assume it constitute as a monster.

“Maybe there’s a way I can use that to my advantage?” Zack muttered. Just what sort of things could he create?